The present invention concerns an adaptor for the electrical connection of an integrated-circuit mini-card in a connector.
The present invention concerns more particularly an adaptor for the electrical connection of an integrated-circuit mini-card in a main connector for an electronic integrated-circuit memory card with contact with a greater size than the mini-card, the mini-card comprising surface contact strips and the said adaptor comprising a main body able to be connected to the main connector and a housing receiving the mini-card emerging on the surface of the main body and comprising, inside, pads for connection to the electrical contacts of the mini-card.
Currently, more and more appliances are using electronic memory cards of a standard type, which allow in particular a large amount of data storage in order thus to constitute a removable data medium which overall has small dimensions and a large storage capacity. Several example embodiments of such a type of memory card are known, whose dimensions are smaller and smaller and whose storage capacities are larger and larger.
This is particularly the case with the so-called “MMC” (MultiMediaCard) sold by the company SANDISK, where the dimensions of its body containing the integrated circuits and the positioning of its conductive contact areas are defined precisely by its manufacturer and by an association of users in order to have a standard-type definition of such a card. This definition is for example the subject of the publication “MultiMediaCard System Specification Version 2.11 Official Release @ June 1999 MMC”.
Another memory card with a large storage capacity, referred to as an “SD” (Secure Digital) card, is sold by SANDISK.
All the characteristics and performances of the SD cards are defined by the documents issued by the SDC (SD Card Association), whose address is 53 Muckelemi St, P.O. Box 189, San Juan Baustista, Calif. 95045-0189, USA.
The overall dimensions of the MMC and SD cards are identical, with the exception of the thickness of the SD card, which is increased.
Another memory card known as an “MS” (Memory Stick) card is sold by SONY.
All the characteristics and performances of the MS card are defined in the document published by Sony Corporation and entitled “Memory Stick Standard—Memory Stick Duo Format Specifications ver. 1.0—August 2001”.
These various memory card formats all have the same rectangular shape, with longitudinal conductive areas which are arranged on or in one of the main faces parallel to and close to a transverse edge of the card.
It has been noted that the external size of each of these memory card formats is greater than the external size of a standard integrated-circuit mini-card of the mini-SIM type (SIM signifying “Subscriber Identification Module”), which is a small card currently used in the radiotelephony field as a data storage medium, in particular for data identifying the user of the mini-card.